Ideal partners

Edwina Hörl
Respect for Tokyo’s fashion scene

Born in Salzburg and based in Tokyo, Edwina Hörl’s eponymous label is founded on her love of Japanese fashion. Encouraged by a grant from the Austrian government, she began working under Yohji Yamamoto in 1990 and founded her studio in Vienna six years later.

How did you get your break?
My career isn’t exactly normal. I didn’t go to a fashion school; I’m self-trained. I was teaching children with disabilities when I heard that the Austrian Federal Ministry of Arts was introducing a prize for experimental fashion design. Fashion was finally being recognised as a fine art. I was so surprised that I won.

Why did you return to Japan in 2000?
I was just so impressed by Tokyo. It was the 1990s, the city was in a boom period. Everything was moving, 24 hours a day. And the fashion! I’d never seen people walk down the street dressed in complete outfits from Comme des Garçons or Maison Margiela. It was like a different world. I had to come back.

What have you learned in 25 years as a business owner in Japan?
Austrians and Japanese share a humility. Unlike many countries, Japan is not an “I” society, there is less individualism. Respect is very important, so is a strong community. It’s not just about pushing yourself forward at the expense of others. There’s a natural alignment.

Kabukiza Theatre

 

Tokyo’s Kabukiza Theatre is one of the world’s most flexible performance spaces, thanks to a revolving 18-metre stage – the largest in Japan. Traditional kabuki shows need quiet transitions so architects turned to Getzner Werkstoffe, global innovators in vibration isolation. The Vorarlberg-based subsidiary of the 200-year-old industrial giant Getzner, Mutter & Cie created bespoke foundation isolation and full-surface floating floors that let the 360-tonne stage move as effortlessly as a seasoned kabuki actor.

Dassai
Symbolic sake

If brewing is an art form, the team at Asahi Shuzo are the Old Masters. With more than ¥6bn (€37.5m) of exports, the Yamaguchi-based company tops a list of sake producers bringing this Japanese beverage to a global audience. Even with such large volumes, the soaking of the rice and the making of the koji yeast is still done by hand, while cutting-edge equipment is employed to monitor alcohol and acidity levels at every step of the brewing process. This combination of careful craftsmanship and technical innovation is the key to Asahi Shuzo’s success and its latest project takes that ingenuity even further.

If brewing is an art form, the team at Asahi Shuzo are the Old Masters. With more than ¥6bn (€37.5m) of exports, the Yamaguchi-based company tops a list of sake producers bringing this Japanese beverage to a global audience.

Even with such large volumes, the soaking of the rice and the making of the koji yeast is still done by hand, while cutting-edge equipment is employed to monitor alcohol and acidity levels at every step of the brewing process.

This combination of careful craftsmanship and technical innovation is the key to Asahi Shuzo’s success and its latest project takes that ingenuity even further.

Nodding to the passion for skill and beauty that unites Austria and Japan, the drinks company is exposing a batch of its world-renowned Dassai sake to Johann Strauss’s “Lagoon Waltz”. The Austrian composer is beloved in Japan and it is hoped that his music will aid the fermentation and maturation of this special-edition Dassai – Composing the Future sake.

The symbolism doesn’t end there.

The version of this piece, created by violinist Andreas Grossbauer’s Philharmonic Taste project, is an amalgam of two recordings played by Japan Century Symphony Orchestra and fellow members of the Vienna Philharmonic. As one would expect from classical musicians, the timing of this collaboration is impeccable.

It is Strauss’s bicentenary in 2025 so the Dassai – Composing the Future sake will make for the perfect pairing. Let’s raise a glass to that.

Pez
Keeping Japan sweet

Designed by an Austrian engineer and given a whole new lease of life by ardent Japanese buyers, Pez candy dispensers are the ideal meeting point for Austrian ingenuity and Japan’s huge collectibles market. About 70 million of the company’s iconic plastic devices are manufactured every year and sold in more than 80 countries. Japan is one of the most important markets – the largest outside of Europe and the US – a fact that has enabled Pez to cement deep relationships with national icons including Sanrio’s Hello Kitty (who is an official Expo 2025 Osaka ambassador).

Rosenbauer
Fireproofing the future

Besides producing world-leading firefighting vehicles, Austria’s Rosenbauer prioritises foresighting, investing in trendmaps and e-mobility solutions to proactively shape the future of the fire service. Japan is the company’s second largest market. The association began when Osaka’s Kansai International Airport placed an order for Rosenbauer’s first Panther truck in 1994. Today more than 200 of Rosenbauer’s ARFF (aircraft rescue and firefighting) vehicles are a standard feature across airports in Japan.

Orbspace
Ready for takeoff

After Aron Lentsch launched his Austria-based aerospace startup Orbspace in 2006, he soon realised the benefits of establishing a second office in Tsukuba, a science-and-tech hub outside Tokyo. “Governmental support for space-related business in Japan is very strong,” he says. Orbspace is developing a reusable rocket system for private space flights, so the fact that Japan considers space tourism in the same category as space exploration allows greater scope for funding. Lentsch divides his time between Austria and Japan, acting as a “bridge” between the two countries. “There is so much opportunity,” he says, citing a natural alignment of work ethic and values, combined with Japan’s bold ambitions in the space sector and Austria’s innovative streak. Cooperation between the two countries – and more broadly between Europe and Japan – is, he says, the launchpad for mutual success.

AWA INC
Bringing a bottle

Based in Nishinomiya, near Osaka, AWA Inc imports about 100,000 bottles of Austrian wine per year. Norbert Tesch and his team will be catering the Austria Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, introducing their wines to a global audience.

How did you begin importing to Japan?
I made friends in Japan who invited me to stay with them. My parents sent some Austrian wine for Christmas and my Japanese friends said “This wine is nice, if it was sold in Japan I would buy it”. My first container arrived in May 1990.

Why does Japan like Austrian wines?
When you go to a restaurant with friends and everybody orders different food, it is hard to find a wine that will suit everyone. Austrian wines like Grüner Veltliner will always go very well with Japanese food because it is not so spicy and there are plenty of fish and vegetables.

Is part of your role educating people?
Yes. Every month, we have wine tastings in different cities, mainly in Tokyo but also all over Japan. These are important because wine is not so easy to sell without doing tastings. If people don’t know something, they just won’t buy it.

Xela Robotics
The Midas touch

Robots aren’t quite yet tying our shoelaces, but Xela Robotics is doing all it can to change that. The Tokyo-based company’s latest product is uSkin, a high-density tactile sensor that can give robots a human-like sense of touch. The possibilities are endless: medicine, construction and, yes, simple household tasks. Xela Robotics was cofounded in 2018 by Vienna-born CEO Alexander Schmitz. “Japan is one of the top countries for robotics,” he says. His switch from Austria to Japan was smooth, given that both nations “produce high-quality products and have a strong work ethic”. They also share national characteristics; they are, says Schmitz, “polite people with a rich history and many common interests”. Robotics being one of them.